Country-code domains: the full ccTLD list

Every country and many territories have their own two-letter ending for web addresses: .cy for Cyprus, .gr for Greece, .de for Germany. These are country-code top-level domains, or ccTLDs. This guide explains how they work and lists all 248 that are live in the DNS root zone today.

What a ccTLD is

A top-level domain is the last part of a domain name. There are two main kinds. Generic ones such as .com, .org or .shop are open to anyone. Country-code ones are tied to a place, and their codes come from the ISO 3166-1 list of two-letter country codes.

A few codes are exceptions. .uk is used for the United Kingdom even though its ISO code is GB; .gb is still in the root zone but is reserved and not used for new names. .eu covers the European Union, .ac covers Ascension Island, and .su is a legacy domain from the Soviet Union that is still delegated.

There are also ccTLDs in other scripts, called internationalised ccTLDs. Examples are .ελ for Greece and .ευ for the European Union in Greek. The IANA database lists 61 of them as active. The table below covers the two-letter Latin codes only.

How they are run

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) keeps the root zone, the top of the DNS. For each ccTLD it records a manager, usually called the registry. The registry is often a national body, a university or a company appointed in that country. It sets the rules: who may register, which characters are allowed, how disputes are handled, and the price it charges registrars.

Rules differ a lot. Some registries let anyone in the world register. Others ask for a local address, a company number or a trademark. Many countries also use second-level names such as .com.cy or .co.uk next to direct names under the TLD.

Several small countries have opened their codes to the world because the letters read like words. .io, .tv, .me, .co and .ai are popular with technology companies. They are still country codes, so the local registry's policy applies, and that policy can change.

.cy and .eu

.cy (Cyprus) is managed by the University of Cyprus, which runs the registry at nic.cy. You can register directly under .cy or under second-level names. .com.cy is open to all entities. Others are restricted: .ac.cy to academic institutions, .org.cy to non-profit organisations, .ltd.cy and .biz.cy to companies on the Cyprus Registrar of Companies, and .gov.cy to government bodies. Each name needs an application, and the registry may ask for documents.

.eu (European Union) is run by EURid. You can register a .eu name if you are a citizen of an EU country or of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, wherever you live, or if you live in the EU or EEA, or if your organisation is established there. A business in Cyprus can hold both, and many use .com.cy or .cy for the local market and .eu or .com for wider reach.

Choosing between a ccTLD and .com

• Local trust. A national ending tells visitors you work in that country. Search engines also use it as a signal that a site targets that country.
• Eligibility and paperwork. Check the registry's rules before you plan a brand around a name. Some require proof you must keep valid.
• Renewal and price. Prices for the same name vary by registrar. Turn on auto-renew and keep the contact e-mail current, because an expired ccTLD can be lost to someone else.
• Protection. Register the endings that matter to you, even if they only redirect to your main site.

Whatever you choose, point the domain at a secure server and set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC before you send e-mail from it. Our security checklist for web developers covers the server side.

Look up who runs a TLD

IANA's whois server answers for every top-level domain, and dig shows which name servers answer for it:

whois -h whois.iana.org cy
dig NS cy. +short
dig NS example.com.cy +short

The IANA Root Zone Database has a page for each TLD with its manager, contacts and registration website.

The full list

All 248 two-letter ccTLDs delegated in the root zone, from the IANA list version 2026103000 (30 October 2026). Managers are as IANA records them. Country and territory names follow ISO 3166-1.

Five more codes (.bl, .bq, .eh, .mf and .um) are eligible but have no registry, so you cannot register names under them.

Common questions

Is .co a country code?

Yes. It belongs to Colombia, and its registry sells names to anyone worldwide.

Can I register a .cy domain from outside Cyprus?

Under .com.cy, yes; it is open to all entities. Other second-level names have their own eligibility rules, which the registry publishes at nic.cy.

Why is there a .gb and a .uk?

GB is the ISO code, but .uk was set up first and stayed in use. The .gb domain was never widely used and takes no new names.

What happens to a ccTLD if a country changes?

IANA can retire a code. Retirements run over years so that sites can move, and .su shows that some codes stay in use long after the country.

Building or moving sites for clients? Getting paid on Internetivo explains how professionals find paid tasks and get paid for accepted work.